Engagement Archives - Page 3 of 8 - Mary Kienstra

When I announced to my 5th graders that we’d be playing the stock market game and buying stocks, my students replied, “What are stocks?” A week later, they were exclaiming, “Let’s buy 100 shares of Panera!” If you haven’t seen www.stockmarketgame.org, check it out. This site has everything you need to teach your students about financial literacy […]
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The first day back after Spring Break is a good day for something out of the ordinary – like revealing the winner of the Book Madness! So today was the day. I gathered my students around the book madness brackets. You know, the bulletin board covered in black with the “DO NOT PEEK” sign. I […]
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Teachers see The Trial of Sponge Bob as a reading lesson where kids practice using evidence from the text to support their ideas. Kids see it as FUN! The week before Spring Break is a difficult week in an elementary school. As the excitement level continues to rise, it’s more and more difficult for the […]
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March is a time for new beginnings as flowers sprout up through the soil and the sun begins to shine just a bit brighter. March is also known for March Madness as college basketball takes over our world of sports. In my class in March, it’s time for Book Madness 2016! Book Madness is a […]
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The PI Day Party is a tradition in my class. Kids look forward to it all year long. I can only hope that my students enjoy it as much as I do! The excitement began to build a week in advance as the kids were assigned a pi day project. It’s JFF – just for fun – […]
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Yesterday was the day the police came to teach my class about crime scene investigation and forensic science. It was a big day. If you want to see kids totally engaged, bring in a police officer to teach! My fourth graders have been reading mystery novels. So naturally, […]
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Authors are like rock stars to kids who love to read. My students talk about their favorite authors like they know them, holding them in the highest esteem. These kids need to meet the authors. They want to see their favorite authors as real people with great ideas. This week I had the opportunity to introduce […]
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This year I started a job chart, something I have never done in the past. I never had an interest in having students in charge of mundane jobs in the class. It was always easier to do those routine jobs myself. After I visited Paul Solarz’s classroom and read his book, Learn Like a Pirate, I […]
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There is never enough time for a teacher to provide face to face feedback for each student for every lesson. Our time is always at a premium, but we know that feedback is key to learning, letting students know what they are doing well and where they need to improve. This year in my class, […]
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What happens when you combine a fourth grade study of mythology and the TV show Chopped to create a project? Chopped Mythology Projects and amazing results! My students took this engaging project and created projects that surpassed my highest expectations. (And it was fun!) One of the most important rules I try to follow is […]
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